WO2000052560A1

WO2000052560A1 - Electronic apparatus including a lid

Info

Publication number: WO2000052560A1
Application number: PCT/GB2000/000781
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martin Philip Riddiford; Stephen Philip De Saulles
Original assignee: Psion Enterprise Computing Limited
Priority date: 1999-03-03
Filing date: 2000-03-03
Publication date: 2000-09-08
Also published as: GB9904837D0

Abstract

An electronic apparatus comprising a lid connected to a base with at least one hinge, wherein the hinge, or at least one of the hinges, offers (i) low resistance to an opening movement of the lid from a fully closed position to a position in which the display is not in a viewing position and (ii) substantially higher resistance to an opening movement as the lid is substantially more fully opened to approach or reach a viewing position.

Description

Electronic apparatus including a lid

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an electronic apparatus including a lid, such as a notebook computer or communications device. The apparatus includes a display in its lid.

Description of the Prior Art

The relevant prior art field is exemplified by the design of lap-top, note-book, sub-notebook or hand-held computers and mobile telephone communicators: these computers typically employ a 'clam-shell' design, in which a computer display is held within a lid, the lid being hinged at the rear of a base, the base including a keyboard. Some of the requirements in such a design are to ensure that the lid remains tightly closed when the lid is shut and to ensure that the lid, when fully open so that the display is in a viewing position, is relatively stable with respect to the base. Conventionally, these respective objectives are met by (i) providing a latch which locks the lid to the base when the lid is closed and (ii) making the lid pivot about a friction hinge. However, the presence of a friction hinge can make opening the lid difficult.

In some designs, an over-center spring is used which biases the lid shut whilst the lid is less than half-way open and biases the lid open when the lid becomes more than half-way open. That approach removes the need to provide a latch.

In other designs where a latch is used, the problem of overcoming the initial resistance of a friction hinge is met by providing a spring which opens the lid a small amount after the latch has been released so that the user can readily grasp the lid to open it up fully.

Statement of the Present Invention In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus, which comprises a lid including a display, the lid being connected to a base using at least one hinge, wherein (i) low resistance is offered to an opening movement of the lid from a fully closed position to a position in which the display is not in a viewing position and (ii) substantially higher resistance is offered to an opening movement as the lid is more fully opened to approach or reach a viewing position for the display.

Hence, the present invention is premised on the insight that the disadvantages associated with a conventional friction hinge connecting a lid/display to a base can be overcome if the hinge is carefully designed to offer little resistance to an opening movement when the lid is first opened yet offer much greater resistance when the lid approaches or reaches the viewing position (which can be a single position or cover a range of positions). This approach makes opening the lid particularly easy, without sacrificing stability when the lid is in the display viewing position.

In a preferred embodiment, the lid is connected to the base via a friction pivot, in which there is no rotation about the friction pivot, or any rotation is very limited, for the lid to become slightly opened, but there is substantial rotation about the friction pivot for the lid to more fully open to approach or reach the viewing position. The resistance to opening and closing movements using a friction pivot may be equal.

Preferably, the hinge is a double hinge comprising a hinge body and 2 hinge arms, each hinge arm connected to the base via a freely moving pivot, with one arm connected to the hinge body via a further freely moving pivot and the other arm connected to the hinge body via the friction pivot.

Significant amounts of rotation about the friction pivot only occurs after the lid has been opened up beyond a threshold opening angle, which in one example is 25 degrees. The double hinge design offers progressively increasing resistance to opening or closing displacements of the lid over a predetermined range of opening angles.

In another aspect, there is provided a hinge for an electronic apparatus comprising a lid, wherein the hinge offers (i) low resistance to an opening movement of the lid from a fully closed position to a position in which a display in the lid is not in a viewing position and (ii) substantially higher resistance to an opening movement as the lid is substantially more fully opened to approach or reach a viewing position.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a hinge for an electronic apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of a hinge according to the invention in the fully closed position;

Figure 3 is a side view of a hinge according to the invention in the half-open position;

Figure 4 is a side view of a hinge according to the invention in the fully open position;

Figure 5 is a side view of a hinge according to the invention in the fully open position showing the arcs traced by the front and rear arms during opening;

Figures 6A, B and C are side views of a computer according to the invention with the lid shown, respectively, nearly fully closed, half way open and fully open in the viewing position. Detailed Description

Walking through the Figures, a sub-notebook computer, the Series 7 or Netbook from Psion Enterprises pic of the United Kingdom, comprises a lid 60 (shown in Figure 6) which includes an LCD screen (not shown) and a base 61. The bottom of the lid 60 slides forwards as lid 60 is opened up, as shown in Figure 6B (lid partly open) and 6C (lid fully open). The lid 60 is attached to a hinge, at a flange 2. The hinge is shown generally at 1 and illustrated in Figures 1 - 5. A pair of hinges 1 support each lower corner of the lid 60. The hinge 1 comprises a main hinge body 3, which is a single cast aluminium piece, a front arm 4 and a rear arm 5.

The front arm 4 is mounted on the main hinge body 3 with a screw 6 passing through a circular hole 10 at the end of the front arm 4 which abuts main hinge body 3. The front arm 4 can rotate freely with respect to the main hinge body 3 about screw 6; we refer to this as rotation about Pivot A. All such pivot points (there are 4 in total: Pivots A, B, C and D) are more clearly seen in Figures 2 - 5. A pin (not shown) passes through circular hole 11 at the end of the front arm 4 which abuts the base (not shown) of the notebook computer. The front arm 4 can rotate freely with respect to the base by pivoting around the pin (not shown) which passes through circular hole 11. This is referred to as rotation about Pivot B.

The rear arm 5 is mounted on the main hinge body 3 with a front pivot pin 7, which is a friction pin, passing through hole 12. This is Pivot C. Rotation of the rear arm 5 about front pivot pin 7 (i.e. Pivot C) offers significant resistance, requiring a torque of l.όlbin. The rear arm 5 is connected to a rear arm mount 9 via a pivot pin 8 passing through hole 13 and can rotate freely about pivot pin 8. We refer to this as Pivot D. Rear arm mount 9 includes a flange 14 which is connected via screws (not shown) to the base 62 of the sub- notebook computer. The operation of the double hinge 1 is depicted in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Figure 2 shows the hinge when the lid (part of which is indicated at 20) is fully closed and overlying the keyboard (not shown) of the sub-notebook computer. The front of the lid 20 is latched to the base (not shown).

Pivot points B and D are fixed relative to the base and do not therefore move in relation to the base as the lid 20 is opened in direction 21. As the lid 20 is initially opened, Pivot A moves upwards and the front arm 4 rotates freely about Pivot A and the rear arm 5 rotates freely about Pivot D. Because these are low friction pivots, the resistance to this movement is low, making the initial opening of the lid 20 very easy. Beyond 25 degrees of rotation, the resistance against rotation of the lid 20 cease to be low and increases significantly. That is because to go beyond 25 degrees of rotation, the rear arm 5 must rotate about Pivot C, which is the friction pivot, rotating about front pivot pin 7. Hence, the lid 20 appears to stiffen up considerably to a user opening the lid beyond 25 degrees. Resistance continues as the hinge 3 is part way through its travel (as shown in Figure 3) to the fully open position (as shown in Figure 4) which is the optimal viewing angle.

Because significant frictional resistance is offered against movements of the lid 20 though a wide range of opening angles (in this example, from about 70 degrees to the fully open position of 151 degrees of rotation of the lid), the lid 20 is relatively stable throughout this range. Hence, at a variety of viewing angles, in this embodiment, 110 degrees to 151 degrees of lid rotation, the lid 20 remains stable and will not tip backwards under its own weight or under normal finger pressure applied to activate any touch screen which may form part of the display. Further, the illustrated design of hinge offers progressively greater frictional resistance to equal angular displacements of the lid 20 as the lid 20 is opened up. That arises because, for example, a given angular displacement when the lid 20 is at a viewing position requires rear arm 5 to undertake a greater rotation about friction Pivot C than it has to undertake when the lid is less open. This progressively increased resistance gives the act of opening up the lid 20 an attractive quality, which may be of significant appeal to both potential purchasers and regular users of the computer.

Figure 5 traces the movement of the front 4 and rear arms 5 in relation to a fixed hinge body 3.

Figures 6A, B and C are side views of the computer embodiment with the lid 20 shown, respectively, nearly fully closed, half way open and fully open. This clearly shows the way in which the lid slides forward as it is opened to the viewing position.

The double hinge described above is particularly appropriate for a sub-notebook with touch based input to the screen since it causes the bottom of the display to be brought forward from the position it would occupy if a conventional single pivot at the rear of the base was used. Bringing the display forward in this way leads to greater stability of the computer: when the display is touched (for example to select an icon), the turning moment about the backwards rotation axis of the computer is far less than it would be if the display were not brought forward, since the length of the moment arm is reduced in the illustrated design. Hence, a force which could tip over a conventionally hinged computer will not cause the computer embodying the illustrated hinge to tip backwards.

The described embodiment is a sub-notebook computer. However, the inventive hinge may find application in a broad range of electronic apparatus, such as communicators, and in fact any kind of a device in which it is advantageous for a user to be able to open a lid easily but for the lid to offer more substantial resistance as the lid becomes more fully opened. Although specific opening angles have been stated above, the skilled implementer will appreciate that different hinge designs falling within the scope of the present invention enable frictional forces to be applied at different angles, depending on the geometry of the hinge, lid and base.

Claims

1. An electronic apparatus comprising a lid including a display, the lid being connected to a base using at least one hinge, wherein (i) low resistance is offered to an opening movement of the lid from a fully closed position to a position in which the display is not in a viewing position and (ii) substantially higher resistance is offered to an opening movement as the lid is more fully opened to approach or reach a viewing position for the display.

2. The electronic apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the lid is connected to the base via a friction pivot, in which there is no rotation about the friction pivot, or any rotation is very limited, for the lid to become slightly opened but there is substantial rotation about the friction pivot for the lid to more fully open to approach or reach a viewing position.

3. The electronic apparatus as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the hinge is a double hinge comprising a hinge body and 2 hinge arms, each hinge arm connected to the base via a freely moving pivot, with one arm connected to the hinge body via a further freely moving pivot and the other arm connected to the hinge body via the friction pivot.

4. The electronic apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein a low resistance to an opening displacement of the lid is offered for angular displacements of the lid of under 25 degrees.

5. The electronic apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein progressively increased resistance is offered against opening displacements in a predetermined range of angular displacements of the lid.

6. A hinge for an electronic apparatus comprising a lid, wherein the hinge offers (i) low resistance to an opening movement of the lid from a fully closed position to a position in which a display in the lid is not in a viewing position and (ii) substantially higher resistance to an opening movement as the lid is substantially more fully opened to approach or reach a viewing position.

7. The hinge as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the lid is connected to the base via a friction pivot, in which there is no rotation about the friction pivot, or any rotation is very limited, for the lid to become slightly opened but there is substantial rotation about the friction pivot for the lid to more fully open to approach or reach a viewing position.

8. The hinge as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the hinge is a double hinge comprising a hinge body and 2 hinge arms, each hinge arm connected to the base via a freely moving pivot, with one arm connected to the hinge body via a further freely moving pivot and the other arm connected to the hinge body via the friction pivot.

9. The hinge as claimed in any of Claims 6 - 8 wherein a low resistance to an opening displacement of the lid is offered for angular displacements of the lid of under 25 degrees.

10. The hinge as claimed in any of Claims 6 - 9 wherein progressively increased resistance is offered against opening displacements in a predetermined range of angular displacements of the lid.